1. of all the ruins on this trip, Chan Chan is most impressive. Chavin is the oldest, Kuelap is nice too.
2. At small towns, buy tickets at the local office ahead of time.
3. Avoid tours catered to the locals.
4. Make sure at hotels that the hot water is hot, and the hours of its availability.
5. Buses are comfortable. But bring extra clothes for the night, in case the AC is too much.
6. Noisy and loud. Volume is always at its highest, and radio or TV is always on. Bring earplugs.
7. Expect delays. Not many things start on time.
2012/4/2-4 Huaraz
4/2 Monday. Sunny, smoggy, rain. Strange, Peru and Easter Island are in the same time zone.
It was difficult to sleep in Lima airport. The cleaning crew likes to move chairs around. AC was in full blast. I had to take out my sleeping bag for some warmth. When it became lighter outside (6am, I actually saw the sunrise from my taxi) I took a "green taxi" to the office of Mobil Tours in Victoria (close to downtown). Fixed rates: S45. Again, I failed to find a public transportation option. Bought a ticket on the first bus (8am) to Huaraz: S40, 400km / 8 hours northeast. Mobil Tours office is smaller than Cruz del Norte. No wifi. Started boarding at 8, so we left late. Morning traffic is not good. 40 minutes later picked up more passengers from another station. A Movil Tours guy took pictures of everyone of us.
The road north along the coast is very dry: sand dunes, squat houses. Lima extends for a long time into the sand. There are fields of corn. I don't see where water is. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant of a gas station in Paramunga. Quite clean. But I ate at a small place across the street for a set menu with papaya juice for S5. . At ~2pm, replaced a flat tire. I bought some pakay. Once we reached cross Cordilla Negra, it was green, pretty: Rio Santa runs in the valley between Cordillera Negra and Cordillera Blanca. Many little towns. 3 stops. At Recuay, saw a cave right by the road.
Arrived at Huaraz at ~5pm. Movil Tours terminal is northwest of the town. But not too far. Huaraz is much bigger than I imagined. Stayed at Casablanca1. Only 2 nights are available, then it's all full due to the coming Easter weekend. Even the buses out of Huaraz were full. I bought the very last seat on Movil Tours for Trujillo on Wednesday night. 2 buses! Both buses of Linea were also full (station in town).
4/3 Tuesday. Overcast - drizzle. Chavin, UNESCO listed.
Slow pickups. It's low season, still in rain season now. Looks like agencies pool all their tourists together and put in a few bus. Our minibus is full with 12 passengers. Drove back south to Recuay, and turned north through the commune of Catac. At one stretch, Chinese pines were planted for exportation, another, mineral excavation was the livelihood for some villages. Even though it's scenic and green at the moment, the land doesn't look very rich: scratch grass mostly.
Laguna Querococha in Park Huascaran, at 4069m, 25m deep. Pretty chilly here. Has trouts. There's a tunnel at the pass at ~4500m. A Christ stood on the other side of Cordillera Blanca. Here Rio Mosna flows to Amazon and then eventually east to Atlantic Ocean.
Chavin de Huantar (S10/5 student) is a religious ruin of 1200-800BC. 3180m. The earliest mention dates to 1616 by Antonio Vasquez de Espinoza. A part of an obelisk was found nearby in early 1900s, and shipped to Lima to be studied. Tello, who hypothesized that there was a major settlement here, hence the first major archeology excavation in 1919. At the moment, a large square (perfectly squared), a circular ceremonial space, 2 multilevel structure with many internal rooms, aqueducts (water was channeled to Mosna river), windows for light. The 7.7 earthquake in May 1970 destroyed many cities in the area, but these buildings survived, as during its ~3000 years of existence. Articles found on site are now displayed in a modern museum built by Japan and Peru (free and well designed). The patterns are stylized, sophisticated. From these, we concluded that this ceremonial site held mighty importance in its era. Things were placed here from the coast, and other far away lands. Our guide talked a lot. Too bad, my Spanish is not good enough to pickup half of what he said. On top of it, I missed part of the guided tour due to a bout of diarrhea. 
Beautiful double rainbows on the way back in the Conchucos valley. Green terraces, twisted roads. Rained until back to Huaraz. On this trip, met a woman who's on her South America trip for 14 months, and another 4 months to go! She speaks Spanish.4/4 Wednesday. Laguna 69 hike.
Didn't sleep well, worried about the 6am pickup. Of course it was late. 11 total2. 6:40 not even out of the town, we were stopped by the first police check of the day. ~7:40, stopped in Yungay for breakfast (not included), paid S5 day use for Huascaran National Park (UNESCO listed). 9:00, reached the park gate. The scenery is superb. Narrow road flanked on both sides by granite cliffs almost vertical. 2 lakes, glacier green: Llanganuco.
At 9:45, we reached the trail head for Laguna 69. 9km one way, 3900m to 4500m. Took me 3.5 hr to go up and 2.5 hr to come back. Quite a few creek crossing. Lots of cow dung and bright yellow flowers. View of the mountains are good if not for clouds. The first hour is flat, a wide green valley with cows. 2nd hour was up slope, reaching a pond and another meadow of cows. The last 45 minutes is zigzag up to the lake. 
Lake 69 is turquoise under overhanging ices. Quite pretty. One Israeli swam for a minute. It started raining when I arrived. Since I also had a minor headache on and off starting at the pond, I headed downhill. But the sun came out, few went back to the lake. The slower ones were just arriving. I got back to the bus 10 minutes before 4pm, our planned schedule. One Israeli had already been waiting for an hour. He climbed a 6000m peak near La Paz, so this is easy for him. The standard hiking time is 3 hrs up and 2 hrs down. Took me 6 hours. By then, it was raining again. When the rest of the group arrived, it was 5pm already. I was getting very anxious, afraid of missing my bus tonight.We arrived in town at 7:30. I walked to Movil Tours terminal outside of the town. Met the French couple on the Chavin tour. 2 of them have only one big bag and one day pack. Another French couple at the bus terminal were very nice, the wife showed me a map of the region and what they liked, while the husband kept on complementing me - he couldn't believe to meet a Chinese who speaks French, however badly, in a Spanish speaking country. Dinner on bus is only a small sandwich, a cookie, a cup of tea or soda. Very inadequate. Toilet has no water in sink.
4/5-6 Trujillo
4/5 Thursday. overcast.
Arrived at Trujillo at 6am. Taxi to town center (S5). Everyone told me that hotels were full. Walked aimlessly in town hoping to see some lodging options. My right knee started showing the effect of the hike. Stores were still closed at this hour, even the market. A few Casinos were open. One friendly local pointed me to a street (Grau) with many hotels, and there I went. Inquired at 3 places, settled in a dump 3 with no hot water for S20, because they let me have the room right away. Took a cold shower, and went to the plaza. Even the tourism office was closed - today was the start of the 4 day Easter long weekend. Bought 2 tours, changed my Chilean Pesos at a very unfavorable rate. Ate next to the market. Trujillo main square is quite pretty, lots of flowers. Its downtown is small: about 10x10 streets. Lots of tall but low French balconies.Spent S80 on a dental cleaning. Not cheap. Only took 20 minutes. She spent the better half of the time polishing my teeth. Her cavity filling price is S50 for a tiny one, and S80 for a medium one.
Museo Huacas de Moche (S3, photo not allowed). We were only given 20 minutes. Lots of potteries found in the tombs. Sophisticated. More natural than Chavin's stylized figures. Some metal pieces with fine patterns.
The site (S10/5 student) of 3 temples (100-800AD Sun, Moon, New temple), only Huaca de la Luna is open to tourists. Its eastern wall is the most impressive. Many half excavated rooms in the temple, adobe blocks signed with various markers, walls decorated with rows of patterns (red, black, white, yellow), often times repaired 3 times in different era. Between the sun and moon temple was the village of 8000 people in 2sqkm. Now couldn't really see anything.A black almost hairless dog: viringo.
Chan Chan (S10/5 student, 1000AD-inca, meaning lots of sun), another UNESCO listed archeology site. Chimu people were the mix of Mochica and Wari from the south and Lambayeque (Sican). First stop is Esperanza, the rainbow temple, constructed more like a fortress with double walls. The museum is very small, photo is allowed. The aerial photo is good to showcase how big the settlement was (10k houses in 20 sqkm). 
Last stop is the most impressive, the palace (one of the 9 palaces). It's huge. High and thick walls surround the compound. Mud bricks were laid with purposeful gaps to allow earthquake and water leak. 
A 90mx70m square in the front, a slightly smaller on at the back, many rooms with lattice windows and decorations (stripes of pelicans and fish) in the middle, storage rooms on the sides. A big cistern (1300s) behind the square (over 120 cisterns like that, most are smaller, 60+ visible). No aqueducts (even though aqueducts were used extensively in the fields). The sheer size is mind boggling.
~6pm, beach of Huanchaco. The sea water is not warm. Wave. The town looks nice. Watched the sunset. Back in drizzle in Trujillo. People don't bother with raincoats or umbrellas. Lots of people in churches, big Easter mass.The tour (S35) uses a big bus. AC. Too many people. On and off bus alone took time. Felt being rushed all the time. Could be cheaper, maybe only S20. Seems all agencies sell tickets to just a couple of operators. 5.5 English speakers on this bus, and we were given an English guide.
4/6 Friday. Overcast - sunny.
This Chiclayo tour (S65) started worse. 6am pickup didn't arrive until 6:30. A big bus with ~50 passengers. No AC. Just getting everyone seated took a long time. And the very first stop is a gas station. The reason I took this tour instead of staying in Chiclayo is what the German boy at the Laguna 69 hike told me: similar but less impressive ruins, hot and dusty.
The surrounding of Trujillo is sandy and dry. There is Moche river in the south, another river in the north. Extensive irrigation systems since the ancient time created lots of agriculture land, and makes the climate a bit milder. High in the mid 20s. Chiclayo is warmer, even with these fields.
8:45 first stop at Pacasmayo. Sunny. A series of sculptures with ocean motif. The square commemorates the peace between Ecuador and Peru. It happens that all the long distance bus terminals are here. I bought my ticket to Cajamarca for the next morning at Dias 4. Resumed the drive later than planned at ~9:30. A 200cc drink and a pack of soda cracker were distributed.
11:00 2nd stop at a new park in Chiclayo. 10+ muse statues placed among flowers and greens. Getting a bit too warm. The 10 minute stop turned to 30.
15 minutes to Lambayeque. Museum of Royal Tomb of Sipan (S10) is well organized, AC, very crowded. All handbags and electronics have to be checked in. A guy at the entrance uses a metal detector on everyone. Toilet is clean, has paper and soap, but no seat. Every ~15 people are assigned to a guide, who goes through the exhibition in an orderly fashion. Just all is in Spanish, except a few panels, so my understanding is handicapped. 
Originals were displayed in glass cases with temperature (26°) and humidity (40%) control. Replicas and illustrations are strategical placed. Excellent photos showing location, excavation, reconstruction. Señor Sipan was buried with 2 women, 2 young men, a llama with its head and body separated, 1000+ pottery, lots of jewelry, in the 6th century. In the same compound, 10+ tombs were found intact. Thanks to the dry climate, some bones and clothes were preserved. One other important tomb is now called old señor Sipan, 3rd century. This is also the Mochica era, same as the Sun and Moon temples in Trujillo. At that time, Mochica culture spanned 600km along the coast, with various kingdoms/settlements. Another tomb probably worth visiting is Señora de Cao's in Brujo, discovered in 2002. That's closer to Trujillo. Near Chiclayo, Tucume, a pyramid valley should also be interesting. In front of the museum, a line of stores and restaurants, half open. Ubiquitous souvenir vendors and ice-cream carts hawk the buses. A market a block away was also half closed. Some smelly fish.
After lunch, 3:30, stopped at a San Roque confectionery, not far from the museum. ~1/3 of passenger bought some sweets.
4:30, beach in Pimentel. The air is cooler, feels refreshing. Lots of people, lots of venders, and those who rent you beach umbrellas and chairs. Black sand spewed with trash. They must clean the beach regularly, because I only saw fresh chewed watermelons and orange peel. The road between Pimentel and Chiclayo is full of much more trash. Plenty waves. I got my pant legs all wet. 10 minutes later, all dry.
Last, Monsefu's market of wood and weaving products, chicha (best in Lambayeque), fruit based sweets. A 15 minute stop turned to 45 minutes. We were back in Trujillo at 10:15pm. The main square was full of people.
This is the worst trip I partook. Maybe a special Easter Tour, catered to local Trujillo population. The program is different from their usual Chiclayo tour. all but the museum is a waste of time and money for me. Half Peruvians are completely undisciplined, as far as time goes. Lots of condor like birds, smaller, wings with white tips, forked, no neck band.
4/7-9 Cajamarca
4/7 Saturday. Sunny - rain.Walked a bit around the downtown before heading to the terminal of Turismo DIAS (S4 taxi). Monastery El Carmen occupies an entire block, Convento Santa Clara is if similar size, churches San Francisco and San Agustin also have a green garden (locked) in front. Iglesia La Merced and the provincial supreme court share the same open space. I also took S400 from an ATM, so far cashed ~$600 since arrived in Puno, and ~$400 was spent (~$50/day, more than I expected).
10:10 departure, 10 minute late. Fingerprint of right index finger. Photo. Today's bus was only 2/3 full. AC, American movies dubbed and subtitled in Spanish. A stop at Pacasmayo. ~12:30, drove by a big resevoir. 2nd stop, Temblader (package only). Up into the mountains along a river. Green fields, white egrets. ~1pm, a roadside restaurant for lunch (S7-8 a la carte). It also sells fruit and drinks. The temperature isn't any cooler than the coast.
Tolls on highway. Gas price ~S14/l for #90. Arrived in Cajamarca at 4:20pm. Took a 3 wheel taxi (S2.5) to Plaza de Armas. Stayed at Hostal Plaza 5 right on plaza. Bought 2 tours at Mega Tours for tomorrow, recommended by the Chan-Chan guide.
4/8 Sunday. Overcast, drizzle.
9:30-1:30 Cumbe Mayo (S18) didn't start until 10:00. 14 tourists in one minibus. Completely full. Toilet has no water. Cumbe=fine, Mayo=river. 
A 9km long water canal built around 1000BC. Above it, a stone forest and spongy slopes. Some introduced pine and quite a few beggars, mostly little kids. The trail starts through a narrow opening of the rocks. For a few seconds, it was pitch dark. The it winds along pointy rock formations, muddy. At the end, follows the canal. A couple of bridges, zigzags (control flow?), a diversion, some faded petroglyph. On the way back, stopped for photo of the town. 20km dirt road (southwest) takes ~50 minutes.
3:30-7:00 Otuzco (S15). Of course, we didn't start until past 4pm. Mega Tour and its next door Catequil Tour combined their catch and sent out one minibus. I like this guide better. Otuzco is a town 8km northeast of Cajamarca. Paved. We drove by the airport (only to Lima), Davy College ($500/month for rich kids) and farms. Ventanillas was a funeral site dated to 50-500AD. The niches are small. Secondary burial, after the flesh were gone. There are other funeral sites like this in the area. The site is small. 
Afterwards, all a waste of time. 5 minutes later, photo at a suspension bridge. Then, a small hydrangea garden to eat chicharon, taste chicha and some very sweet liquor, and souvenirs. Last, a cheese maker: Los Alpes. They don't sell yogurt, which I like to buy in town, S3.5/l. Thick, flavored with various fruit. It's probably better to go visit Ventanillas de Otuzco independently, by a micro to the town of Otuzco.Today was Easter Sunday. There was a large mass in Iglesia San Francisco. Next to this beautiful church, at Jr. Amalia Puga 750, is Cuarto del Rescate (ransom room). Here, in 1553, a century before both the cathedral and San Francisco, Atahualpa was a kept captive. He filled it once with gold and twice with silver wishing to exchange his freedom from Pizarro.
Bought a bus ticket to Chachapoyas online at Movil Tours for S50. 6am! (This departure doesn't exist! 6).
4/9 Monday. Overcast with some sunshine.
Museums are all closed on Monday.
I 
walked up Santa Apolonia hill in the middle of the city. A short but steep series of semi circle stairs leads to a locked small church. Its right is the gate (S1) to the hill top garden, with Silla Del Inca and a fabulous view of the city. The garden is well attended, many flowers.
Banos del Inca is a town 6km east of Cajamarca. Took micro A on Jr. Jose Sabogal, 2 blocks from the plaza (dos de Mayo). S1, 15 minutes. The thermal complex is fabulous. S2 shower, S3 piscina, S4-5 bath (they clean the tub after each use), S20 massage/jacuzzi. There is also sauna, but what's the point. You are here to enjoy the thermal water. To visit, it's also S2. The swimming pool is closed on Monday :( maybe that's why there wasn't a crowd. Finally, after 3 days, I got to take a hot shower. I smelt like sulfur, but not to strong. There are also a few picnic tables with thatched roof, a4 swings for kids, manicured lawn, a small ruin of 450-600AD with thick walls and subterranean canal. Nice place to relax.4/10 Tuesday.
A confusing and long day. Detour to Chachapoyas via Chiclayo. Over 24 hours.
4/11-13 Chachapoyas
4/11 Wednesday. Cloudy with sun - rain. Gocta.Arrived at Chachapoyas at 8am, due to a breakdown somewhere ~2am. Chachapoyas is an unlikely capital of the department Amazona. A small city, no airport. Can walk everywhere. All tourist attractions are far away, require a taxi or tour. A small market one block from the plaza, doesn't open till 8am. At 2300m above sea level, temperature Is mild ~10-20°. Seems it rains every afternoon. My clothes don't dry.
I walked to the plaza, ~4 blocks away. Dropped my bag at Hotel Kuelap 7. Lots of hostels right in the plaza and within a block. Was stopped by a minibus going to Gocta (because I made an inquiry before), and I got in. The bus was now completely full: 11 passengers 8. All tours depart at 8:30. It was 8:40 already. S30 for the transportation to a small community called San Pablo, 1:10 north up on a slope. Paid S5 at a local office by the small plaza. Some took horses. The rest were assigned a guide.
6km one way. There are 3-4 rest huts along the way. Except for one, all brand new and spacious. Our local guide told us about the plants from time to time, but I didn't understand anything. Still I took photos of over dozen flowers. Despite of the sun and dry air when we started, the trail was muddy. 
First half is dry and exposed. Little blood sucking insects when you stop. At ~4km, a short side trail leads to a lookout of Gocta, both segments. You can see another 6 tall but skinny waterfalls on the other side of the valley. The last 2km is wet and in the forest. Feels like a jungle: hanging roots, moss, bromeliads in tree branches. Need rain coat when approaching the falls. Was nice. Just the lower part. Another trail from the lookout goes to the higher falls. 2 segments add together, claims tad 3rd highest falls on the world. Overall, not very impressive, especially after this much effort (5 hours walk, 2.5 hours drive, 10+ long lasting itchy bites, S30). Can be skipped. But a good change of pace. I started my malaria pills.
4/12 Thursday. clouds.
8:30 tour (S50) depart. On time! 8 tourists8, 1 guide, 1 in training. About 1 hour later arrived at Luya, ordered lunch. Almost another hour later, passing a couple more villages on the bumpy road, reached the little hill top village of Cruz Pata. Paid S5/3 at an office, and wrote down our names, walked down a rutted trail of 1km, first next to potato and corn, then steep down. sarcophagi Karajia, ~12th century, is unique among many burial sites in the neighborhood. Like others, it sits in a vertical cliff hard to reach, and sheltered from rain. But this one has interesting statues of over 2m high. More were looted. On the way back, entrepreneurial local brought horses down for you to ride on (S10).
Cavern Quiocta, after lunch. Borrowed boots (S3). 2 plastic bags were given to put on your feet (they are so feeble, both were broken by the time I took them off. S5 entrance. An owl at the locked gate. Our guide got a key, and distributed few lamps. There are kids' skulls and bones in the cave close to the entrance. Probably also 800 years old. It's suggested that here was a sacrificial site. But no drawings or any other human occupation sign. The cave is of decent size, with some standard cave formations. The 3 rooms have circular ceilings. An owl perched on the tree just outside of the cave, a family of small bats hung in a hole in the ceiling.
5pm returned boots. 45 min gravel road. Back at Chachapoyas at 6:15.
4/13 Friday. Overcast. Kuelap.
8:50 late depart because of 2 who failed to show up. S40. 7 tourists + 1 local photographer, Martin Chumbe, who brought a bottle of liquor of sauco (elderberry) he made.
45 minutes later, near the town Tingo, stopped to admire an abandoned walled Chachapoyas citadel, Macro, across the river Utcubamba, abandoned when the Spanish came.1:20 hours along precipitous dirt road. We stopped at Choctamal to order lunch. There, we tasted Martin's sauco liquor.
45 minutes later, arrived at Kuelap. S15/8 entrance. 
Walked up stairs to the hill top historical site. 500AD till Inca time. 25 minutes. 700m x 100m, 3000 people, 500 circular houses (seems to me much less). Most houses have a narrow, low and long guinea pig stone hut. The center has a water cardinals or drainage hole, or sometimes ancestor's mummies. Thatched roofs with center opening which all rotted away. High walls, narrow entrances. Limestone have to be carried from Marañón river, a week's walk from here. Orchid, bromeliad, lichen grow everywhere. Not too many tourists. Quite nice.At the late lunch, the host gave our guide a small bottle of Chuchuhasi, a strong liquor (mixed with honey) made with the bark of a native tree called Maytenus Macrocarpa, which he shared with us. More sauco liquor was distributed, and the leftover was drunk in the bus back to town. Jovial atmosphere soon turned into slumber. Back in town ~5:30pm.
4/14 Saturday. Clouds with sunshine.
A group of police was jogging near the plaza in platforms 6:30!
7am combi to Moyobamba. S25. Hoping to catch another one to Tarapoto. All minibuses are 1 block south of the plaza, half a block west of the market. 15 passengers (1 loud Austrian, 1 German). 1 hour later, picked up a couple with a kid at Pedro Ruiz. Now the bus is 1 overflow. Another hour later a 30 min breakfast stop. It also stopped when one passenger bought some cheese. ~11:30, 5 got off at Nueva Cajamarca at different spots. By now, elevation had dropped to warm and muggy level, the road is straight. 3 got off at Rioja. 12:20 arrived at Moyobamba.
Notes
